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Des Moines Police Department

The Des Moines Police Department is located at 25 E. First Street. The non-emergency general information phone number is 515-283-4824.

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Communications

E-9-1-1 Calls for Emergency Services

Calls for emergency services are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by personnel in the Des Moines Police Department Communications Section. The 39 Senior Public Safety Dispatchers (dispatchers) assigned to the Communications section answer approximately 350,000 calls each year. Those 350,000 calls generate more than 222,000 trips for police, fire and emergency medical services.

Dispatchers are also responsible for entering and maintaining the Des Moines Police Department’s entries into a nationwide computerized system of wanted and missing persons, stolen vehicles and stolen property. Dispatchers also make queries into that same system for police officers throughout the Department. More than a quarter of a million transactions into this computerized system are done each year by Communications Section employees at the Des Moines Police Department.

Public Information Officer’s Role and Responsibilities

The Public Information Officer (PIO) is responsible for coordinating and releasing information pertaining to major crime incidents and operational activities of the department. The PIO serves as a liaison between the Department and the news media to coordinate press releases and press conferences on current criminal investigations, issues pertaining to public safety, and other matters of the department.

The PIO’s goal is to ensure that open lines of communication are maintained between the Des Moines Police Department and the news media and ultimately the citizens of Des Moines.

The PIO is assigned to the Office of the Chief of Police and, among other duties, serves as the official Department spokesperson responding to inquiries from the media and other sources.

The Public Information Officer can be contacted via email request, or by phone at (515) 283-4084, Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

After hours requests for contact with the Public Information Officer should be directed to the Des Moines Police Department Records Section at (515) 283-4824.

Metro Interoperability Communications System (MICS)

The City of Des Moines has been designated by the COPS Office of the Department of Justice as the lead agency in developing, implementing and managing a multi-county interoperable voice radio system to serve police, fire and EMS agencies in the central Iowa area.

This project represents a collaborative effort that has been developed and endorsed by first responders, law enforcement, fire personnel, communications directors, emergency management, locally elected officials, and communications technicians throughout central Iowa, as well as the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division of the Iowa Department of Public Defense.

Public Safety agencies in the Des Moines area operate on VHF, UHF frequencies, one privately owned SmartNet 800 MHz trunking system and one commercial 800 MHz EDACS system. Our project creates an interoperability network by linking together the FCC designated interoperable frequencies in the VHF, UHF and 800 MHz bands. This allows each agency to retain their investment in their current communications infrastructure.

The project utilizes four UHF, four VHF and four 800 MHz interoperability channels to establish four interagency channels for public safety use. Two of these channels will be established as fixed point systems to provide mobile service to the larger area. One of these will be used as a calling or hailer channel.

The other two channels will be incorporated into several portable repeaters that will be installed in various police and fire command vehicles as well as at the Des Moines International Airport for use at location specific events where multiple agencies and disciplines are involved but coverage requirements are limited.

This project will greatly increase the voice radio interoperability of police, fire and emergency medical services in the Des Moines MSA and improve service to the community.

Below is a link to a flyer with more information about Metro Interoperability Communication System